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May 13- Department store chain J.C. Penney Co Inc reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss and lifted its annual gross margin target, helped by solid demand for women's apparel and home goods. The company posted a loss of $167 million, or 55 cents per share, in the first quarter ended May 2, compared with a net loss of $352 million, or $1.15 per share, a year...

*Tech stocks rise, with Microsoft leading gains. May 13- Wall Street was little changed in afternoon trading on Wednesday, paring early gains, as a flurry of deals failed to make up for tepid economic data. "We are seeing some evidence that the weakness in the first-quarter has spilled over to this quarter, but I'm not concerned that U.S. consumer spending for the year...

WASHINGTON, May 13- U.S. retail sales were flat in April as households cut back on purchases of automobiles and other big-ticket items, the latest sign the economy was struggling to rebound strongly after barely growing in the first quarter. The weaker-than-expected retail sales report from the Commerce Department, and other data on Wednesday showing the 10th...

*Macy's, Ralph Lauren down after results. *Tech stocks rise, with Microsoft leading gains. May 13- Wall Street pared early gains in choppy trading as tepid economic data and a renewed selloff in the bond market more than offset a flurry of corporate deals on Wednesday.

*Macy's, Ralph Lauren down after results. May 13- U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as data suggested that the economy was not rebounding strongly enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates before September. "The data puts into question the Fed's notion that the weak first-quarter data was transitory," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan...

*Macy's, Ralph Lauren down after results. May 13- U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wednesday after data showed that the U.S. economy was struggling to make a strong rebound after meager first-quarter growth. "The data puts into question the Fed's notion that the weak first-quarter data was transitory," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan...

MILAN, April 17- Italian clothes group Benetton has paid $1.1 million into a fund for victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse that killed 1,100 workers in Bangladesh two years ago, the company said on Friday, after pressure from activists to donate to the fund. The collapse of the Rana Plaza, an eight-story factory built on marshy ground outside the Bangladeshi...